When actor Jeremy Woodard began starring in the role of rocker Stacee Jaxx in “Rock of Ages” on Broadway last September, he didn’t think he would soon be going head to head with Tom Cruise, who was busy filming the screen adaptation.

With the film’s nationwide release Friday, audiences who see both versions will inevitably compare how the actors portray Jaxx in the 80s rock-n’-roll story about the aging hair metal star who comes between a young, naïve waitress named Sherrie and her ambitious rocker boyfriend, Drew.

“I wasn’t insecure about playing a role until that all happened,” says Woodard. Read More »

This week at the multiplex, we’ve got a rock ‘n’ roll romance (“Rock of Ages,” adapted from the hit stage play and starring Tom Cruise) and some father-son bonding (“That’s My Boy,” starring Adam Sandler and Andy Samberg). Find out what the critics have to say on Rotten Tomatoes. Read More »

“Rock of Ages,” the latest Broadway musical to be adapted for the silver screen, uses the music of ‘80s hair bands ranging from Journey to Bon Jovi to tell the story of Sherrie (Julianne Hough), who’s just a small-town girl livin’ in a lonely world. But instead of taking the midnight train going anywhere, she takes a Greyhound bus to the Sunset Strip—the passengers sing “Sister Christian” together—where she finds love, heartbreak and participates in saucy dance numbers.

The film features a high-profile ensemble cast including Alec Baldwin, Mary J. Blige, Russell Brand, Catherine Zeta-Jones and, most notably, Tom Cruise in the role of Stacee Jaxx, the frontman for a made-up band called Arsenal. He’s an Axl Rose type who is supposedly the biggest rock star in the world. Read More »

When writer, producer and choreographer Adam Shankman was deciding on his latest project as a director, he decided that he wanted to make a movie about a subject he hadn’t seen onscreen before. That subject, he ultimately decided, was seeing Tom Cruise in a–less chaps.

The resulting film is this summer’s musical “Rock Of Ages,” which Shankman introduced Tuesday in Las Vegas as part of studio Warner Bros. CinemaCon presentation to movie theater owners. The film stars Cruise as Stacee Jaxx, a rocker at the height of his musical prowess in 1987 Los Angeles.

Shankman, who also directed the adaptation of Broadway hit “Hairspray,” says he knew “Rock of Ages” was the right show to bring to the big screen because it was the only theater production he’s ever seen where straight men knew all the words to all the songs. (The “Rock of Ages” soundtrack features songs by Journey, Bon Jovi and more.)

Speakeasy caught up with Shankman following the presentation to ask him more about the film. Read the interview after the jump. Read More »

U2, Live on the Web: If you couldn’t get concerts for the latest U2 tour, no worries — the Irish megaband plans to stream their coming Sunday night concert in Pasadena, Calif. on YouTube. [LA Times]

Polanski Stays Put: Filmmaker Roman Polanski has lost his appeal to be released from a Swiss jail in advance of his possible extradition to the United States. In 1978, Polanski, director of such films as “Rosemary’s Baby” and “Chinatown,” fled the U.S. before his sentencing after pleading guilty to having unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl. The 76-year-old was arrested in Switzerland earlier this year. [BBC]

Vic Mizzy, RIP: The man who wrote the insanely catchy theme to the television show “The Addams Family,” has died. Remember the finger snaps and the lyrics? “They’re creepy and they’re kooky, mysterious and spooky, they’re altogether ooky: the Addams family.” Vic Mizzy was 93 years old. [AP]

Balloon Boy Investigation Spreads: In advance of charges potentially being filed next week, authorities in Colorado are questioning associates of Balloon Boy dad Richard Heene, including Robert Thomas, who worked with Heene to create a science-based reality TV show. Thomas’ attorney said that Heene believes the world will end in 2012, so “he wanted to make money quickly, become rich enough to build a bunker or something underground, where he can be safe from the sun exploding.” [AP via Yahoo] Read More »

When the opening number of your awards show features Bret Michaels, Liza Minnelli and what looked like a dancing gnome, you may be grabbing for one too many target audiences. But the 63rd annual Tony Awards, desperate to snare viewers and make Broadway seem cool, isn’t about to turn people away.

The evening opened ominously when “Rock of Love” reality TV star Mr. Michaels got hit in the faceby a descending piece of sceneryafter performing “Nothin’ but a Good Time” with his band, Poison, and the cast of the 1980s hair-band send-up, “Rock of Ages.” Mr. Michaels’ spokesman, JoMignano , said that he’d planned to go to the hospital last night after complaining of a sore back, a cut lip and a possible broken nose. “He was a trouper,” she said. “When he exited the stage, he didn’t throw anyhissy fits.”

Two weeks ago, actress and singer Patti LuPone grabbed a cell phone out of the hand of an audience member who was texting during a performance of her current play, "Shows for Days." The bold move led to an outpouring of support from fans fed up with glowing screens. Ms. LuPone gives us her five rules of theater etiquette.